His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, yesterday said the future of Palestine was perhaps the last of the great 20th Century issues that are still unresolved.

"It is the core question and, until it is answered, our people cannot move on," HRH Prince Mohamed said in a statement at the General Debate of the OIC Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan. "So, I would like to reaffirm Brunei's long-standing solidarity with the Palestinian people. We are with them in their search for peace, honour, and an independent homeland," said HRH.

"... we hope that every party involved, both in Palestine and throughout the world, will balance their short-term objectives with long-term reasoning.

"This, we maintain, is the only way to ensure that a third, fourth and fifth generation of Palestinians do not face another century of struggle.

"It is also, we believe, the most direct route to peace, cooperation and development that form our theme for this meeting," HRH said.

Following is the full text of the statement HRH Prince Mohamed Bolkiah delivered at the meeting:

My congratulations to President Nursultan Nazarbayev on his fine opening address and my thanks to you, personally, Mr Chairman, for all the arrangements for our meeting.

Also, my great appreciation to our friends from Tajikistan and our Secretary-General for all their work over the past year.

Lastly, of course, it's a great pleasure to be here and I thank the Government and People of Kazakhstan for their welcome and very kind hospitality.

Mr Chairman,

Some of my colleagues were here three years ago for an important interfaith meeting and they were very impressed.

When they came back, they told me a lot about Kazakhstan. They explained how big it was, of course compared to our own and they also told me about its history.

It was where mankind had made some of its most dramatic advances, from the taming of the horse to the opening up of outer space.

So, I was also very impressed but, I think, what I enjoyed most was learning about your arts and culture, especially about one of your greatest writers, the poet Abai Kunanbaev.

He was one of our faith's most enlightened thinkers, a writer honoured by Unesco and after whom your State University in Almaty is named.

I read a very interesting description of him by President Nazarbayev. He called him "an ambassador of spiritual unity, calling on all nations of the globe for peace and accord".

That means he was a great leader of his time, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

I have also learned, however, that he was even more than that. He had deep belief in the power of education and human development and that makes him a great voice for our own time.

It is your people's heritage, of course, Mr Chairman but I believe his words belong to us all in this organisation. I think they are the way forward in the 21st Century.

That is why I very much like the spirit of the Astana Declaration and I see it as a way to meet 21st Century challenges on 21st Century terms. As a result, we can almost say that the 20th Century is past history.

I say "almost", however, for a very important reason.

It is big reminder. In fact, it reminds us of why this organisation was founded.

I refer, of course, to the future of Palestine.

This is perhaps the last of the great 20th Century issues that are still unresolved. It is the core question and, until it is answered, our people cannot move on.

So, I would like to reaffirm Brunei's long-standing solidarity with the Palestinian people. We are with them in their search for peace, honour, and an independent homeland.

That is why I began by mentioning your great poet, Abai, Mr Chairman, and I would like to end by returning to him and quoting his words on the purpose of great affairs.

This, he said, is to "weigh our close objectives on the balance of reason".

I think these words are extremely relevant today and, for us, they are the key to all successful diplomacy.

So, I thank our Palestinian brothers for their efforts to work in this way and we hope that every party involved, both in Palestine and throughout the world, will balance their short-term objectives with long-term reasoning.

This, we maintain, is the only way to ensure that a third, fourth and fifth generation of Palestinians do not face another century of struggle.

It is also, we believe, the most direct route to the peace, cooperation and development that form our theme for this meeting.

Thank you. - Borneo Bulletin (29th June 2011)